NBA Insider: James and Durant show a friendship and rivalry can coexist

Once again, two of the league's elite players are training together in the offseason

United States' Kevin Durant, left, and LeBron James celebrate during the men's gold medal basketball game against Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. United States won the game 107-100. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
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United States' Kevin Durant, left, and LeBron James celebrate during the men's gold medal basketball game against Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. United States won the game 107-100. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
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Isiah Thomas stormed off the court before the game was even over. Larry Bird would spare no opponent his smack.

Michael Jordan spent his entire Hall of Fame speech laying into anyone he felt wronged him. And Kobe Bryant can go all of spring without flashing a grin.

For about 20 years, we have been conditioned to think that NBA success mandates a scowl, that there were two types of players -- those with friends and those with rings.

But things may just be changing. The King, after all, has decreed it so.

For the second consecutive summer, the NBA's two best players are training together. LeBron James and Kevin Durant, the top vote-getters in last season's MVP race and the preeminent performers in the Finals, are spending what they've dubbed "Hell Week 2" in Akron, Ohio.

Last year, the pair cited the workouts as a springboard toward their eventual showdown in June. And this year, they've already taken to Twitter to broadcast their achievements.

Granted, this whole "rivalry" feels a lot more like Niles and Frasier than it does Ali and Frazier -- but isn't that just a tiny bit refreshing? No?

You can't argue that the pleasantness is affecting performance. While it's ludicrous to think that James' career accomplishments mirror Jordan's at this point, it's possible that nobody has ever played at the level LeBron is at now. His annual shortcomings have forced him to add a new aspect to his repertoire each offseason, and with his post-game catching up to the rest of his inimitable skill set, we may be looking at the finest basketball player to date.

Durant, meanwhile, has improved at a rate that suggests a championship is no more than 21 months away. Three straight scoring titles. A steady ascension from the first round, to the conference finals, to the NBA Finals. And a blistering 30.6 points and .548 field-goal percentage during those five games vs. the Heat -- his best series of the playoffs.

You can't argue that friendliness has affected fire, either.

When James imploded in the Finals two seasons ago, he locked himself in his house for two weeks. When Durant lost to Miami earlier this summer, he collapsed into his mother's and brother's arms and began sobbing. You really think that's the kind of reaction you'd see out of someone whose relationship with his top competitor has softened him?

That's what Skip Bayless contended on ESPN. But I think it's more of an evolution. I think it's more a demonstration of how the NBA -- and much of sports culture in general is changing.

One of the biggest knocks on James is that he joined forces with an elite player in Dwyane Wade, whereas "Jordan would never do that." But couldn't that be just as big of a knock on MJ as it is LeBron?